Ice swimming World Championship medals are just a bonus for Hongkonger, whose focus is process over suffering
- Mak Chun-kong wins five medals at the ice swimming World Championships, but his mindset shifts from extrinsic to intrinsic motivations
- The Hongkonger wants to show that with hard work, anything is possible no matter where you come from
A Hongkonger won five medals at the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) World Championship in Glogow, Poland, but for Mak Chun-kong, the external validation of medals has ceased to matter.
“I try not to look at the medals, but it is a chance to test my ability to see how fast I can go, and to enjoy the process,” Mak, 35, said. “I didn’t look at the other opponents. It’s not a healthy mentality, even in sport, to look at others.
“They swam next to be, but I didn’t look at them. I told myself to enjoy every stroke and see how far I’ve come this season. It was a bonus to enjoy the medals.”
Mak won bronze in 1,000m freestyle, 500m freestyle, 250m freestyle and 50m butterfly, and silver in the 100m individual medley.
Mak started ice swimming four years ago. He swam in Hong Kong when he was a student, competing in school and university competitions. By his own admission he was not especially competitive and would be happy to just make a final.
He moved to Germany to study, and took up ice swimming when he was 30. He has now settled in the Czech Republic and works in chemistry.
Hong Kong’s top ice swimmer talks combating the freezing cold
“At the beginning, it was more about the suffering,” Mak said. “People talk about how they overcome the suffering and we all learn a lot about how we deal with suffering. I have trained for years in ice water and I start not to feel the suffering.
“I now focus mainly on the speed, the stroke and the normal swimming aspects. After four years, the cold resistance is checked.”
Mak’s motivations have shift from the extrinsic value of sporting success to a deeper drive.
“At the beginning, compared to now, it was about suffering, I wanted to push the limit, achievements, the motivation was to set the Hong Kong record,” he said.
“No Hongkonger had ice swam before, and I saw the chance to be a pioneer. Hong Kong is an achievement-oriented society, and it had trained my mind to only see the records, the medals and the achievement.”
Mak takes part in 30 to 40 races a year, including over the summer. Saturated in competition, he has ceased to look at the tangible outcomes of the competition.
“Now the motivations is for the mental health, the physical health. It pumps up my life, to allow me to gain ideas at work, it helps in relationships and friendships. The motivations are not about achievements but for the mental health,” he said.
Mak is still in regular contact with his old swimming buddies from Hong Kong. They can spend about 15 minutes in 18C degree water, and Mak can now spend about 40 minutes in water under 5C degrees.
There are many differences between warm and ice water swimming – in ice swimming, for safety, participants cannot dive in at the start, they cannot tumble turn at the end and it uses so much oxygen that they need to take a breath almost every stroke. But the main difference is how swimmers have to build up cold resistance.
“It’s like when you are in a computer game, and you have a health bar. When you start, the health bar is right down. At every temperature there is a limit you can spend in water,” Mak added.
“I represented Hong Kong, and I can show it doesn’t matter that I am from a hot place. Through training and hard work we can still be better, it doesn’t matter where we are from. On top of that there are the results, I am happy and lucky to have both,” Mak added.
“I feel great. I enjoyed the process a lot. Other than the medals, I gained excellent health from the cold resistance. I made a lot of friends.”
